28 Feb Written By City Sanctuary Roger lives up in Māori Hill and has been trapping possums in his backyard for the past two years. “We could hear them at night racketing around in the garden and they were having a go at some plants.” “Once when my grandkids were over from Australia they left […]

City Sanctuary’s new monthly operational newsletter The City Sanctuary Dispatch aims to keep you up-to-date about project developments, provide seasonal trapping advice, and share stories from local trappers. Click here to read the latest news, tips and stories from City Sanctuary.

Over the Easter break I was lucky enough to head down to Anchor Island/Pukenui with my husband for a pretty exciting volunteer opportunity. Nestled in Fiordland’s Dusky Sound, Anchor Island is one of three offshore islands that are home to the critically endangered kākāpo. The island is predator free and the first kākāpo were transferred […]

Click here to read May’s edition of The City Sanctuary Dispatch, our monthly newsletter with trapping tips and stories. In this month’s newsletter: Spending time with kākāpō 102 possum traps in one car Feeding birds and native planting Responsible cat ownership Plus lots more!

Click here to read July’s edition of The City Sanctuary Dispatch, our monthly newsletter with trapping tips and stories. In this month’s newsletter: We’re coming to Leith Valley Possums in the spotlight New trapping groups in Kaikorai and Brighton Trapinator vs the exterminator Plus lots more!

Click here to read August’s edition of The City Sanctuary Dispatch, our monthly newsletter with trapping tips and stories. In this month’s newsletter: Protecting the special Leith Valley Neighbours at war (against possums) New homes for Aotearoa’s tiniest bird  Possum facts Plus lots more!

Where we live there is a lot of vegetation with a large number of native trees and as result we get plenty of kereru, tūī, korimako/bellbirds, pīwakawaka and tauhou/silvereyes. We also get plenty of possums – they’d be on our deck, in the trees making the dog go nuts. On walks around Jubilee Park at […]

9 Sept Written By City Sanctuary What are Dunedin’s birds doing at this time of the year? Mary Thompson from Birds NZ shares some tips for bird watching (and listening) during spring. Written by Mary Thompson, Birds New Zealand Otago Male chaffinch singing. Credit: Mary Thompson. Spring is the season for bird-listening as well as […]

When we first moved here in 2007, we were given an old style Timm’s trap. It was awful. It would trap the possum by an arm, and we’d have to go out and put the poor thing out of its misery. We stopped trapping for a long time. Then I saw a flyer for a […]

What trap line(s) do you check? Leith Track (Botanic Garden) Brackens View Chingford Park (lower track) How long have you been volunteering with City Sanctuary? Since November 2021 for the Leith Track. Picked up Brackens View and Chingford Park in February 2022. What motivated you want to start volunteering? I’m a bird enthusiast and amateur […]

How do you stay in touch with your other crew members? We primarily use an app called Heja which was suggested by a team member. It features scheduling, messages and very handy reminders whenever I have a slot coming up. Have you had any special wildlife encounters on your trap line? I once opened the […]

City Sanctuary was launched in 2020 as the city project for Predator Free Dunedin. For the first two years of the project, we focused on running backyard trapping pilot sites in three suburbs to find out what works and what doesn’t for achieving effective urban predator control. We are very grateful to the backyard trappers […]

Have you ever found a lizard in your garden? Our very own Penny Jacks (Community Ranger) completed her Masters Degree studying the behaviour of rare skinks in Otago. She provides some tips about the lizards you’re likely to find in Dunedin and how you can help protect these fascinating reptiles. Written by Penny Jacks Do […]